More movies are available for rent directly through Facebook, using Facebook Credits. Why is this significant news? Because this time, the titles come from Paramount, indicating that more studios are eyeing this as a potential option for film distribution.
Warner Bros. was early to test the waters here. Months back, the company made The Dark Knight available for rent via the film’s official Facebook Page. It seemed to work well enough that they wanted to dip a few more toes into the water, as they then made a handful of other films available.
Now, while it may just be Jackass movies at this point, Paramount is clearly looking at this medium for making money from its films. Not a bad idea, considering that not only are a lot of people frustrated with recent Netflix price hikes, but Facebook has a commonly reported (though often disputed) 700 million users.
They’re charging 30 credits, or the equivalent of $2.99 for the first three Jackass films. They’re charging 40 credits (or $3.99) for the last two (Jackass 3 and Jackass 3.5). The prices seem a little on the high side to me, but there is a convenience factor.
Movies can be watched for up to 48 hours after the transaction.
Another interesting factor of Facebook as a movie rental vehicle is that studios can market the rentals directly to users through the news feed. They have the opportunity to push them to people who like the studio’s brand itself, but also through individual film titles. A whole lot of people on Facebook have “liked” a whole lot of films. Then there’s Facebook ads which can be very highly targeted.